• Play History
• Now Playing
• Artists
• Top Lists
• Search
• Your Favorites
• Submissions
• Song Info

Lost my store in '34, money was slim too tight
So I slipped down to Pigeon Forge, back to the rowing life
Left my little girl and boy and a wife who's love wore thin
I was out of dreams, gambling schemes, back down to nothing again
A slick looking man from Richmond, with a engineer degree
He's building a road set to go Afton down to Cherokee
Well, I wasn't drawn to muscle and brawn but options were less than none
So I signed in with thirty men, we were gone before the sun
Never did such a long hard shift as working for the WPA
Spending gaps on the toll poll maps working for the WPA
Rise to legends of breaking stones, swinging a sledge and shaking bones
Out in the sun all day, working, working, working for the WPA
Now, I heard news that some of the crews just sat on their tails all day
But we worked so hard thought FDR would show up and hand us our pay
I stood tall and belimbled falls, I was tough as an angus hide
And day by day that road took shape
My heart swole up with pride
'Bout a year and a deuce they cutting me loose
And I went back to find my kin
But Tennessee had no use for me
So I went out again
I jumped the fence, been drifting sense
But sometimes in reverie
I wish that road had led me back to the man I was meant to be
Just heard I've had a grandson
Hope we might meet someday
If I could look him in the eye, here's what I'd say
You should drive that Blue Ridge Parkway with your pretty wife and kids
And let them know building that road was the one good thing I did
Never did such a long hard shift as working for the WPA
Spending gaps on the toll poll maps working for the WPA
Rise to legends of breaking stones, swinging a sledge and shaking bones
Out in the sun all day, working, working, working for the WPA
Source: LyricFind
Songwriters: Mark Simos / Roger Brown
Working For The W.P.A. lyrics © BMG Rights Management